House Republicans Push Property Tax Overhaul Requiring Voter Approval Before Local Revenue Increases

Kansas House Committee Introduces Medical Cannabis Bill That Would Legalize Patient Use and Expunge Past Convictions

Kelly Signs Bipartisan Crime Package Raising Penalties for Buying Sex and Adding Gift Card Fraud Offenses

House Committee Channels Up to $66 Million in Casino Revenue Into Conservation and Outdoors Funding

Senate Committee Targets E-Cigarette Marketing to Minors by Banning Cartoon Characters and Entertainment Features

House Republicans Push Property Tax Overhaul Requiring Voter Approval Before Local Revenue Increases

TOPEKA — A House Republican bill introduced Friday would fundamentally reshape how Kansas local governments raise property tax revenue by requiring voter approval before any taxing jurisdiction increases property tax collections for the following year. HB 2745, introduced by the Committee on Taxation, would establish a property tax relief fund, provide transfers to counties that cap tax increases and replace the current revenue-neutral rate with a new property tax limit — the latest effort in a yearslong push by the GOP supermajority to curb property tax growth that has dominated the Statehouse for multiple sessions, with prior proposals ranging from a 4% valuation cap that died in the House in 2025 to a plan to abolish property taxes entirely by 2027.

Property tax overhaul advances in the House

HB 2745 would require voter approval before local governments raise property tax revenues

citizen journalGreg Loving

Kansas House Committee Introduces Medical Cannabis Bill That Would Legalize Patient Use and Expunge Past Convictions

TOPEKA — The House Committee on Health and Human Services introduced HB 2752 on Friday, a sweeping medical cannabis measure that would make Kansas one of the latest states to legalize marijuana for medical use by creating a state-run cannabis program, establishing patient and caregiver identification cards, authorizing the expungement of certain cannabis-related convictions and removing cannabis from the Kansas Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The bill's introduction from the GOP-controlled committee signals growing bipartisan interest in the issue in a state that remains one of roughly a dozen without a comprehensive medical cannabis law, though the measure's path through a legislature dominated by social conservatives remains uncertain.

Medical cannabis bill introduced in Kansas House

Lawmakers file sweeping ‘Health Freedom Act’ that would legalize medical marijuana, expunge past convictions

citizen journalGreg Loving

Kelly Signs Bipartisan Crime Package Raising Penalties for Buying Sex and Adding Gift Card Fraud Offenses

TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday signed HB 2347, the first bill of the 2026 session, a four-part crime package that passed the House 119-4 and the Senate 39-0 after carrying over from 2025, raising the minimum fine for buying sexual relations from $1,200 to $2,000, making motor vehicle theft a severity level 10 nonperson felony, adding gift cards to the state's financial card fraud statute and creating a new offense for aiming a laser pointer at law enforcement officers or aircraft. Kelly also signed HB 2183, which codifies judicial deference to state agencies' interpretation of rules and regulations.

Kelly signs first bill of 2026, a bipartisan crime package

HB 2347 raises penalties for buying sex, adds gift card fraud and laser pointer offenses

citizen journalGreg Loving

House Committee Channels Up to $66 Million in Casino Revenue Into Conservation and Outdoors Funding

TOPEKA — The House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources recommended passage Friday of an amended HB 2063 that would direct between $50 million and $66 million in annual state gaming revenues to new conservation and outdoors funds, with subsets flowing to working lands, wildlife and recreation programs under provisions set to expire in 2031. The plan taps the same gaming revenue stream that helped finance the state's $3.3 billion bid to lure the Kansas City Chiefs across the state line, and it echoes a 2024 proposal backed by the Kansas Farm Bureau, the Kansas Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy that called for dedicating roughly $50 million annually to conservation without raising taxes.

Conservation funding tied to gaming revenues in House committee plan

Amended HB 2063 would divert up to $16 million in casino proceeds to land, wildlife and outdoors funds

citizen journalGreg Loving

Senate Committee Targets E-Cigarette Marketing to Minors by Banning Cartoon Characters and Entertainment Features

TOPEKA — The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs recommended passage Friday of an amended SB 355 that would prohibit e-cigarette manufacturers from marketing to minors through cartoon-like characters, celebrity images, toy-like trademarks or disguised product designs, while also banning vaping devices with entertainment features such as games, music playback or video displays. The measure expands Kansas tobacco law, which already bars sales of cigarettes and e-cigarettes to anyone under 21, as federal data show roughly 1.63 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2024, with more than half of daily teen vapers reporting they were unable to quit.

Senate committee moves to restrict e-cigarette marketing to minors

SB 355 amendments target cartoon characters, celebrity images on vaping products

citizen journalGreg Loving

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